Patreon Pin Up 2/24/20 (Patreon)

Tried something a little different with this one. I discovered the work of Fernanda Suarez over the weekend, and I was so blown away by her portraits that I wanted to try and weave some of her elements into my own style.  And while I do maintain that picking ideas from more advanced artists is a great way to improve, it doesn't always mean the specific picture you were experimenting on will turn out as consistent as you'd like. I spent so many hours obsessing over this one that I'm honestly too close to it to tell if it works or if it doesn't. But either way I felt it was worth posting here. It's better for me if you guys can see my whole process, because your feedback will help me improve in the long run. 

That said, stick around if you want to hear my hot take on Netflix's Carole and Tuesday.

For context, my favorite anime of all time is an old one called Cowboy Bebop. It's a story about a team of intergalactic bounty hunters who are haunted by their own pasts, and the rest is a tapestry of gunfights, martial arts, and objective awesomeness overall. 

Cowboy Bebop was released in 1998, and outside of a movie, never got a follow up. So imagine my surprise last month when I heard that the mastermind behind Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe, had done another anime that took place in the same universe as Cowboy Bebop, that was set a year after the events of the movie? And it was fully dubbed in English on Netflix? How the hell did I not hear about this sooner?

So upon booting up Carole and Tuesday, the familiar quality of Watanabe's work hit me in the face like a hammer. The artwork and animation are awesome, and the presentation is top notch. But the first ten minutes confirmed the suspicions that the show's description/thumbnail first aroused: there would be no gunfights and bounty hunting in this show. This was a story about two teens trying to make it as musicians. 

There could not be a concept more outside my wheelhouse and general interest. There was like a 5 episode story arc that was pretty much just American Idol in space for crying out loud. And yet...I watched the entire fucking series in like three days. What can I say, maybe a part of me was still carrying a torch for the idea that Spike and Jet might kick down a door at any moment and start shooting up greasy mobsters. But in any case, the show held my interest. It may be the closest thing to a musical I've ever enjoyed, as depending on your taste, the songs are pretty great. 

I'd say Carole and Tuesday is a typical rags to riches story about struggling musicians who inevitably make it big, but it really isn't. Typically these kinds of stories about the rise to fame and riches involve a lot of drama. Especially if we're talking about a band or even a duo. How does the corrupting influence of fame and money affect these people? That's usually the big question in this type of story, but Carole and Tuesday sidesteps those ideas pretty much completely, almost to an unrealistic degree. Carole is an orphan who grew up on the streets, you'd think her first big paycheck would be at least worth a mention, but that's not the story they were going for here. 

And I guess that's my biggest issue. I'd have liked to see some more drama between these two. They have great chemistry as characters, and I'd have liked to see them actually have to overcome a real obstacle in their relationship every now and then. (Also some sex or at least decent romance between each other or any of the other cast members would have been nice, but that's a gripe I have with most anime.)

Long story short it was no Cowboy Bebop, but it managed to leave an impression on me nonetheless. What do you think? Have you seen the show? Do you have any feedback on my more painterly approach to this pin up? As always I'd love to hear from you.